Inno3D GeForce 6800 Review - Overclocking and Temperatures
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The Inno3D GeForce 6800 core was not very overclockable while memory faired pretty well. Stock speed is 325/700, and after about 10 minutes of messing around with Coolbits and a 3D stressor Rthdribl, the top speed we managed to run with stability was 350/854.
There are many possible reasons why the 6800 core did not clock very high. Considering the 6800 series is relatively new, its safe to say the binning process of filtering out weaker NV40 cores to run as a 12 pipe GPU instead of 16 is being used. Another potential reason, though one we do not believe to be true, is that the Enermax 350w power supply we are using is not giving enough juice to the card. I say we do not believe this to be true because the EG365P-VE(FCA) 350w PSU is the best one we have ever tested. The 12v line remained strong throughout testing the 6800 so we are confident we simply have a bum overclocker today. A 154MHz jump in memory speed is certainly welcomed, though it does not help nearly as much as overclocking the core does.
Stock
Overclocked
The overclocked Inno3D 6800 gets nearly a 700 point boost in 3DMark2003. In reality, you will only see on average 1-5FPS greater than stock performance. I personally do not see the reason behind overclocking the video card - I much prefer the peace of mind I get knowing my $300 investment is guaranteed to not burn out. But then again, the core slowdown threshold is 135º C. Throughout testing (and overclocking), the core temperature never surpassed 70º C.
Idle
Load
It is safe to say that the Inno3D 6800 will not melt down in your box.
Next: Conclusion >>
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